The commission will likely decide in an afternoon meeting whether to accept a hearing officer's finding that the police have been illegally withholding recordings that should be released to the public.

"All sides will have an opportunity to be heard (Wednesday)," said Colleen Murphy, executive director of the commission. "Commissioners will listen to all arguments."

A state law adopted this spring with the Sandy Hook murders in mind allowed crime scene photos and on-scene police recordings to be kept private until next May. That law, however, explicitly provided for the release of the 911 recordings that came from the school.

If the commission rules against the Newtown Police Department, which has refused to release the recordings, the department would be able to appeal to the state Supreme Court. The state courts have, however, issued a series of decisions against law enforcement agencies that have attempted to withhold similar recordings.

In August, the commission's hearing officer, Kathleen Ross, rejected the police department's premise that release of the calls would jeopardize the investigation of the murderous rampage that ended with the suicide of Adam Lanza.

The request for the recordings, made by The Associated Press on the day of the murders of 20 first-graders and six adults in the school, was rejected by lawyers for Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe on Feb. 22.

Ross found that because of a directive from Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III to withhold all evidence, the police did not even look for the 911 recordings until the end of May. A hearing on the matter was held in June.

Sedensky is scheduled to appear before the nine-member commission Wednesday and make a pitch for continued suppression of the recordings, Murphy said.

Other news media organizations, including Hearst Connecticut Newspapers, have also requested the release of the 911 tapes. The commission members have already had access to the recordings.

"They had the opportunity to listen to them and form opinions about the arguments and the law," Murphy said.

After the hearing, commission members may amend the hearing officer's findings and ask questions. There is a possibility of a continuance, but Murphy said that usually the commission votes on issues.

While the Newtown police claimed that the 20 dead children were victims of child abuse, the hearing officer found after a review of the recordings that none of the calls from the school that morning were to the state Department of Children and Families, the agency that receives reports of abuse.

Ross said the police department, which claimed to be acting on the orders of Sedensky, failed to assess its requirements for disclosure under Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act.